New Restaurant Offers Tables for Two (Number Two That Is) – Toilet Themed Restaurant Comes to LA

Posted by Rachel S on Friday, November 29th, 2013

Typically when you dine out, you hope it’s not a crappy experience. But a new theme restaurant in LA is gambling that diners will turn up in droves hoping for exactly that! Magic Restroom Café in City of Industry became America’s first toilet-themed eatery when it opened last month and is off like a flush. Owner Yo Yo Li, a Chinese immigrant, was inspired by the success of Modern Toilet restaurant in China to open a similarly inspired diner in the states. Seating, décor, menu items and even serving dishes are all lavatory related.

Whether you prefer the seat up or down, if you’re daring, you can perch on a pot while you enjoy your dinner. For those not so brave, booth seating opposite the porcelain thrones is available. The menu offerings are all Tiawanese in origin, but with scatological references imbued in the naming. The zha jiang mian is called “constipation” and pork over rice is called “smells like poop.” For those that make it through dinner and have an eye for more, the vanilla strawberry sundae is called a “bloody number two” but it seems like it would be more apt if it was based on chocolate soft-serve…

We’ve written before about the trend in pop-up restaurants but this is the first poop-up we’ve seen. It’s bad enough when someone makes a distasteful joke while you’re eating, but when the humor surrounds, can you keep the food down? Even if the notion of ordering “golden poop rice” doesn’t give you pause, seeing it swimming in a miniature toilet bowl serving dish just might. Custom dishes echo the water closet theme but the one thing I see lacking which would have rounded out the theme perfectly is a roll of TP inspired napkins at each table. After all, when things get messy, you’ve got to wipe…

Reviews on Yelp cite crap service and long waits have also been mentioned as a pain in the a** (all puns intended). But don’t let any of this dissuade you if you’re looking for a shockingly unique evening out with your #1 best guy or gal. Toilet themed restaurants are a big hit in China, but I just don’t see this as being more than a flash in the bowl here in the US. We’re much more delicate about our bathroom habits than other countries and the bottom line is that most of us don’t want to think about our bottoms while we’re eating…

Personally, I see this concept as something of a stinker, but I’m sure my 12 year old and his pals would be more than happy to swap potty humor while diving into dinner and dessert. If you decide you want to worship the great porcelain god, the Magic Restroom Café is located at 18558 Gale Ave, No. 222, City of Industry, CA 91748 and is serving up edibles golden, brown and otherwise from 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. daily.